Six Ways to Catch a Bird
by ezzelin
Summary: A series of six oneshots, each depicting Hibari Kyouya from a different perspective, and leading to a different pairing.
1. One: With the Help of a Friend

**General overview**

**Summary:** A series of six oneshots, each depicting Hibari Kyouya from a different perspective, and leading to a different pairing.

**Rating & warning:** Rated T just to be safe; het and shounen-ai fluff, a lot of violence and some cursing. And a bloodbath. (Not really, I just had to add that; even though there will be blood, though in lesser amounts.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not in any way own the characters used in this story. All of them belong to Amano Akira. (If I _did_ own any part of Katekyo Hitman Reborn, it would have turned into a yaoi anime ages ago. And Hibari, Spanner, Squalo and Fran would get much more screentime.)

**This chapter...**

**Pairing:** Hibari & tyl!I-Pin

**Summary: **"Hibari knew his pride should have been shattered to pieces due to the fact that he had let _anyone_ disarm him, and even trap him in a submissive position, but all his mind could process was the heat that slowly spread through his body, /.../"

* * *

**One: With the Help of a Friend**

To say that Hibari Kyouya was fairly surprised would be an understatement; however, his face showed nothing more than a faint curious smirk when two familiar (although he would have preferred them to be unfamiliar, as a matter of fact) children, one of them deep crimson blushed, appeared before him. He had, on numerous occasions, encountered the two, mostly as a combination, sometimes alone. He did not recall a single time that meeting both of them would be a pleasant experience; encountering the cow alone was even less enjoyable, since he wasn't even allowed to bite him to death (which he would, naturally, execute with pleasure, eliminating a posing threat to the peace of Namimori). The girl was, on the other side, bearable company; she was mostly silent, did not invade his personal space, seemed to be rather harmless and all in all looked like a small animal.

He did not muse about the possible reason for their unscheduled visit; it wasn't something the prefect would consider worth his time thinking about, especially when he was bound to be told anytime soon. With his slightly questioning, curiously amused gaze, he wordlessly bored into the two, indicating it was about time they spat out their intentions.

For his own amusement, he turned his glare into a something a tad more threatening; he always felt some sort of sadistic pleasure when the annoying cow squirmed under his gaze, rapidly eyeing all possible routes of escape, tears welling up in his big eyes that literally screamed "whiny timid herbivore" all over. Of course, he was, despite his notorious reputation, enough of a gentleman not to subject the little girl to the same treatment; she was a perfectly harmless little animal in every aspect, and had done nothing to disturb the peace of Namimori. (At least that's what the leader of the Disciplinary Committee was led to believe, for luck being on the young Chinese's side for once, he had never seen her ultimate destructive technique in action.)

After several moments of silence, when Lambo's bladder was dangerously threatening to give in to the fear seeping through him, the young girl finally managed to gather her courage, and proceeded to execute what she had come here to do.

With her cheeks rosy coloured, but the Pinzu time bomb trigger still under control, she measured the distance between her and the fearsome prefect with her little insecure steps, the slight tapping of her feet echoing over the room drowned in the suffocating silence. Upon reaching her destination, her arms, until now hidden behind her back, shot forth, revealing a carefully wrapped package in her tiny palms.

A fact that had not yet been mentioned to the unsuspecting reader, despite its essentiality to complete the picture, is that the day when these events occurred was the fifth of May.

If the cloud guardian of the Vongola had kept his face devoid of any emotion other than curious amusement, his façade now failed – for despite the fact that he had always despised celebrating one's birthday and refused to participate in such meaningless herbivorous customs, the child's gesture had touched his seemingly marble-cold heart. Oh, without doubt everyone held him for a ruthless sadistic delinquent with an air of elegance about him and with an absolute lack of compassion, affection, care and similar _afflictions_ that herbivores tend to call _feelings_ whatsoever, but that didn't necessarily mean it was true; it only meant he _wanted_ them to believe so. (Mmmm, vem, da se temu v teh one-shotih ne bo dalo izogniti, ampak tole razmišljanje se mi zdi zanj malce OOC. Glede na to kako je vse skupaj formulirano, se da tale odstavek razumeti na 2 načina: 1)da si to on dejansko misli (se zaveda, da ni v resnici tako brezčustven, ampak to namenoma prikriva) ali 2)da je tole napisal vsevedni pripovedovalec, ki ve, da je Hibari v resnici takšen, vendar se sam Hibari ne zaveda, da prikriva svoje prave občutke. Očitno je, da je prva možnost zanj precej OOC, tako bi predlagala, da premečeš stavke tako, dab o bralcu očitno, da to govori pripovedovalec in se Hibari tega NE zaveda – seveda samo, če je to dejansko tudi v interesu tebe kot avtorice.

His delicate fingers brushed gently against the young maiden's trembling hands as she handed over the gift she had prepared, poured inside all the feelings of admiration her heart harboured. She had spent the day before – and most of the night that should have provided her with comforting sleep as well – making her present for the man that, not knowingly, stole her heart. Yes, she was a little child, uneducated in the ways of love, but she knew well enough that her knees became unsteady, her heart restless, and her stomach full of fluttering wings when she was in the vicinity of the raven-haired person whom she only recently learned was named Hibari Kyouya; and she knew well enough that above everything, she just wanted to see that person smile.

And that was what the prefect did when he stood up again with the tiny package in his hands. The parabola that shaped his lips was certainly devoid of any sadistic or malevolent intentions whatsoever; it was a priceless expression, extremely rarely etched on his face and seen by very few – a gentle smile of quiet delight that had nothing to do with bringing about someone's doom for a change.

He did not say his thanks; Hibari Kyouya never does. But letting her see such a rare sight, a tiny display of herbivorous emotions from him, was a reward that rivalled any other.

The young girl's heart, although wishing for exactly that smile, was unprepared though; and instantly, the formerly gentle rosy blush of her cheeks burned in a vibrant colour of the quince blossom, accompanied by the countdown displayed on her forehead.

The other child's reaction was even more unexpected; although, anyone _knowing_ the five year old cow-headed bomber of the Bovino family would have surely anticipated as much. Being already fairly scared, remaining in his place merely because he was paralyzed by the overwhelming fear that consumed him after the fellow guardian pierced him with his gaze, he had absolutely chickened out when that same person _smiled_. According to his experiences, when Hibari Kyouya smiled, that meant nothing good. He hadn't even noticed the countdown of the Pinzu time bomb had started before he went through his now already daily routine: with tears flowing out from the corners of his eyes like rivers after the storm, he cried out "Gotta-stay-calm..!", pulled the familiar weapon out of the tangled forest of his bushy hair, and, without a second thought, pulled the trigger.

However, fate just couldn't let everything fold out smoothly for Lambo that was at that moment probably scared like he had never been in his life before, couldn't let him use the comfortable escape to the future. For the silly bomber, intimidated as he was, turned the ten-year-bazooka the wrong way, and, for a change, did something good.

In a puff of candy-pink smoke, a pair of long braids appeared, followed by their bearer which was obviously either in the middle of an intense training session or a fierce battle. Her attire was rather revealing, and it clung to her body tightly in order to not pose as an obstacle; the expression she bore was fearless, determined and proud, as in the ancient drawings depicting mythic god-like warriors, and the only indication that she was having a hard time beating her opponent was a tiny bead of sweat that trickled down her cheek and fell to the ground, disturbing the shocked silence her appearance had brought to the room.

The sound of the falling droplet as it made impact with the ground made the world that seemed to have stopped in its tracks resume revolving at full speed once again; Lambo, now even more confused and terrified, snapped out of his fear-induced paralysis and ran headlong out of the prefect's office, while the ten-years-older-than-just-a-moment-ago I-Pin, not yet quite aware of the situation she had been ruthlessly thrown into, launched herself towards the unsuspecting raven-haired teen whose eyes once for a change betrayed his feelings.

Before he could consciously react, his tonfas were already clenched in an iron-tight grip shaped by his fingers, and they instinctively shot forward to protect his face from the clenched fist that was approaching his nose at a dangerously high velocity. Carefully, he adjusted the angle of the weapon just before it made impact – he normally wouldn't mind hurting his opponent as much as possible, as a matter of fact that was generally the side-product of his fighting, a side-product that invoked rather pleasurable sensations in him; notwithstanding, hurting the attractive Chinese fighter in front of him just didn't _feel right_.

Instead, he elegantly avoided her hits, and they danced across the confiscated conference room in their lethal dance, circling around each other, feeling the other's breath on their skin, sensing the warmth of the other's body as they brushed right past each other, but never touching. The cloud guardian enjoyed the fight, even though not getting hurt, and more importantly not hurting anyone, was far from his fighting strategy; but he found unexpected pleasure in merely observing the agile young lady move in sync with him, her body swaying like a lone willow in the wind and yet with the feral flexibility of a wild cat.

His gaze was locked on her, and there was nothing that could divert his attention at the moment; the line of his lips curled up into a satisfied grin, the closest thing to happiness he had ever expressed. It wasn't hard to tell for anyone that at least barely knew him that the prefect found unexpected pleasure in fighting, or more precisely, in fighting strong opponents – he had no interest however in weak herbivores that he could bite to death for breakfast. But even so, he did not recall ever enjoying a spar this much, not even in the endless hours he had spent on the rooftop with the Cavallone.

Yes, the Cavallone was the closest approximation to a carnivore he had ever met until now; however, he came with a fatal flaw. In a fight, he could pass as a carnivore, and yet when he was alone, he was the weakest of the lowest plant-eaters, and he harboured the same useless feelings they did. Hibari had named him an omnivore, and despised him in the moments when the herbivorous part of his nature took over. But this girl, this young yet perfectly maturely shaped woman, surpassed the Cavallone; ruthlessly, determinedly, she launched herself forward, a predator against a predator they danced around in circles. Yes, she was indubitably a carnivore.

There was nothing even remotely herbivorous in the way she moved; her muscles tensed and relaxed, always working at the minimum energy required to perform the needed moves, saving up the rest in case the battle lasted longer than expected; her eyes were narrowed, concentrating merely on her opponent's weak points, not even noticing (and not truly caring) his identity; and when she struck, she channelled all the power of the blow into a single point, aimed to finish off her enemy in a split-second.

However, while the prefect had been observing her, marvelling at her skills, mastery of techniques and agility of her body, he had allowed his mind to stray too much, losing focus on his surroundings for a moment – and that single moment was more than enough for the experienced hakuda master to catch him mid-air, wrap her legs around his hips and pin him on the ground motionless.

It was not until that moment that their gazes met; and while the raven-haired teen looked at her in astonished bewilderment, her eyes exhibited nothing but pure shock once the realisation of his identity hit her.

Truly, there was nothing herbivorous about her; to be able to take advantage of a split-second moment of weakness and _pin_ down the strongest guardian of the Vongola... Hibari knew his pride should have been shattered to pieces due to the fact that he had let _anyone_ disarm him, and even trap him in a submissive position, but all his mind could process was the heat that slowly spread through his body, the scent that wafted off the young woman's skin, and her legs curled tightly around him, brining their hips together in a locking position which would under any other circumstances seem highly inappropriate. Not to mention that it more than certainly violated the school rules.

... the school rules? No, those were long forgotten.

Maybe they have crossed his mind for a second, before he pushed every single rational thought into the dimmest corner of his conscience, and using the opening the young Chinese gave him by taking her time to cope with her shock of her recognition, rolled them both over to switch their positions.

Before she could complain, he dove down, and crashed his lips against hers.

She probably would have nothing to complain about anyway, since after a moment or two of initiate hesitation that could probably be blamed on surprise, she joined in the kiss eagerly, whipping her arms out of his grip and curling them around him passionately.

Their kiss was not a gentle, soothing play of the two that had finally found each other – they were both carnivores after all, and would never submit to the chaste cuddling the plant-eaters indulged in so eagerly. No, their lips existed for the sole purpose to be bitten, to be marked, to be the proof of possession; their tongues existed for the sole purpose of fighting intently against each other rather than gently soothing, to push and struggle and curl around each other in the passion of a python; their teeth scraped against each other, pierced lips and threatened to cut their tongues; kissing was a game no less lethal than fighting.

However, five minutes' time does not last forever, and before the pair even parted their lips for the first time, the young Chinese disappeared in a puff of baby-pink smoke. The prefect rapidly regained his composure and stood up, backing a few paces from the place the formidable woman disappeared. An even tinier looking I-Pin than before emerged from the cloud, looked around in confusion, and then, relieved to have returned back to the past where she belonged, bowed hastily and ran out of the prefect's office. Muffled sounds of the Pinzu time bomb countdown could be heard from the hallway as she ran along them, trying to leave the premises of the Namimori middle school before the final countdown ended.

Back in the conference room, a certain prefect grinned like a Cheshire cat as he wiped the blood off his lips. He hummed to himself as he returned to his daily routine, allowing the tiny yellow bird to land on his finger as it munched on its favourite seeds.

Ten years wasn't that long after all... and she was certainly worth the wait.

However...

...he will have to borrow that cow-brat's bazooka more frequently.


	2. Two: Tame The Bird

**General overview**

**Summary:** A series of six oneshots, each depicting Hibari Kyouya from a different perspective, and leading to a different pairing.

**Rating & warning:** Rated T just to be safe; het and shounen-ai fluff, a lot of violence (probably, since it's Hibari) and some cursing (yet to come). And a bloodbath. (Not really, I just had to add that; even though there most likely will be blood, though in lesser amounts.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not in any way own the characters used in this story. All of them belong to Amano Akira. (If I _did_ own any part of Katekyo Hitman Reborn, it would have turned into a yaoi anime ages ago. And Hibari, Spanner, Squalo and Fran would get much more screentime. And Alaude and Fon too.)

**This chapter...**

**Pairing:** D18

**Summary: **"He hadn't fought back because he _couldn't_; he was Hibari Kyouya after all, he could always find a way."

* * *

**Two: Tame The Bird**

Hibari Kyouya did not like whips; the way the long flexible strap of leather slashed through the air, almost whistling a tune to which the lyrics no one knew but the wielder seemed far too erratic and uncontrolled to make herbivores submit.

He did not like oversized cargo pants and loose fur-trimmed jackets; in his opinion, only the worst kind of people, infatuated with their own image in the mirror, choose to wear such clothes.

He did not like tattooed people either; they posed a far greater probability of disturbing the peace and discipline of Namimori than the vast majority of the others, and were generally just troublesome wimps attempting to appear tough and intimidating.

And most certainly, he did not like the person that called himself Dino Cavallone.

The mentioned person was, much to his displeasure, right in front of him in this very moment. He had disturbed his sleep, stood in the sun and talked loudly about irrelevant problems the head herbivore had – which did not hold not even the slightest of interests to him – until he actually became annoyed enough to get up and bite the bastard to death, and as if that wasn't quite enough already, his self-proclaimed tutor had once again come up with an almost insultingly idiotic proposal to "spice up" their training.

His newest idea resulted in their otherwise quite enjoyable spars transforming into something the likes of a child's game. Really, who did this Cavallone think he was talking to, a little troublesome kid that always needed new games to keep his mind occupied? His nostrils flared as he snorted silently at the ridiculousness of the Bucking Bronco's latest invention; despite the fact that the caprices of the young boss proved to be a valuable source of amusement, he deeply and thoroughly despised them. Well, at least the Cavallone was doing the silly part this time – it was almost worthwhile watching the oh-so-respected-and-beloved-boss humiliating himself in front of his most loyal subordinate.

The general idea was to train Hibari's perception of his opponent's intentions; a surprisingly reasonable goal, taking into account the vast majority of others up until now were rather meaningless. So far, it seemed interesting.

Practical application was where the Cavallone always, without exception, failed – and today was not an exception in any way. The training entailed having the blonde shout out his strike's direction before delivering the blow, and the Skylark watching him closely enough to determine his true intentions, moving aside the other way just in time to avoid the lashing whip – or failing at doing so, and having the leather coil around him.

The herbivore truly put quite some effort into convincing him to stop defending himself whenever he misjudged and had the whip lashing directly towards him; he explained that if they'd entangle in a fierce close-range battle every time he failed, the training would lose its purpose.

Hibari did not like the way his self-proclaimed tutor phrased that; he did not fail, because he _does not fail_, it was merely the whip which acted in discordance to his expectations. However, in the end, he reluctantly had to admit that the herbivore was right; indeed he was finding himself eagerly expecting the whip to lash towards him and not the other way since that provided him a chance to fight the way he liked it – and while it provided amusement to him, it did not in any way help his observation and movement prediction skills. And whatever some might say, Hibari was a reasonable person; if he was forced into this "training" (even though he was perfectly strong enough already, and perfectly fine by himself, he only wanted to fight the blond herbivore because he was a strong opponent), he would make sure to get the best out of it.

Not to mention that the incredulous look on the Cavallone's face when he voluntarily discarded his tonfas rather entertained him.

He did not like it though, when the surprise was rapidly replaced by a confident smirk – as much as he preferred this nearly-carnivorous version of the Bucking Horse, this smirk bode nothing well.

The blonde lashed forth, shouting out "Hidari!", and Hibari watched his limbs move, his orbs seeking out the spot to strike, his whip slashing through the air offensively – _he'll strike to the right – _and swiftly side-stepped to the left, avoiding the leather whistling past his ears by a margin. "Hidari!" resonated through the air once again, and with only a quick glance, Hibari knew it was going to be left this time – and once again, he was right, moving to the right just and away from the traverse of the ominously cracking whip. "Migi!" shouted the blonde, not giving his student even a moment to pause and take a breath; however, the elusive Skylark was just as fast as him, and guessing correctly this strike will be coming from the left, he avoided taking the hit once again.

He would have been smirking proudly at his prowess and at the Cavallone's incapability to land a hit in this game of his, had he not seen the herbivore's smirk widen for some reason unknown to him. Hibari did not like that, oh no, not even a little bit, for it meant that the Bucking Horse knew something he didn't, and judging from that glint in the sienna pools, he won't like it.

"Migi!" echoed the next command, and it didn't even take more than a quick glance for Hibari to figure out that the blond is going to strike right this time; now that he had abandoned his tonfas and was actually focusing on _not_ getting hit, he realised he had no problems doing so – he picked the evasion route with ease, calculating the traverse of the whip rapidly, and moved away just in time.

He was almost getting bored; so he actually played another game with himself, guessing which direction was the herbivore going to call out next. He was pretty sure that it was going to be _"hidari"_ this time–

"Hi_**b**_ari!"

'_Huh?'_

He stood still, looking at the Cavallone questioningly with his left eyebrow quirked; did he just make a stupid mistake when saying _hidari_ or did he intentionally call out his name? –but the Bucking Horse always insisted on calling him by his _first_ name rather than his last, why would he...

Hibari's slightly confused mind flow was interrupted by the whip coiling around him, restraining his arms and wrapping around his torso. The Cavallone beamed at him with one of those wide grins that Hibari hated because they made him look like an idiot (and because they made something squirm inside him, which he attributed to his developing allergy for idiotic smiling herbivores), and chuckled playfully.

"Gotcha!" was all the blond said before tackling him over and to the ground.

Hibari's eyes went agape unintentionally – no matter how much he wanted, he could not suppress the shock. '_What does the herbivore think he's doing?'_

However, before he could protest, warm lips covered his own, and he found his eyes bulging in shock even more – he wanted to push him away, to beat him, to bite him to death..._ but he didn't._

The lips moved against his, gently brushing, and teasingly demanding more, and he found himself responding – which should have shocked him more that it did. Instead, he closed his eyes in defeat; in defeat, but not in the battle against the Cavallone, but against himself.

He hadn't fought back because he _couldn't_; he was Hibari Kyouya after all, he could always find a way.

He hadn't fought back because he _didn't want to_.

He let the Bucking Horse slip his tongue inside his wet cavern when he sensed him probing gently, asking for permission; had had his tongue fight the Bronco's appendage, losing to his gentle but determined domination – and he found himself not minding that at all.

He did not know why, but it felt good. It felt nice. It felt right.

...

But he still did not like Dino Cavallone, and would surely punish him by biting him to death some day.


	3. Three: Have Patience

**General overview**

**Summary:** A series of six oneshots, each depicting Hibari Kyouya from a different perspective, and leading to a different pairing.

**Rating & warning:** Rated T just to be safe; het and shounen-ai fluff, a lot of violence (probably, since it's Hibari) and some cursing (yet to come). And a bloodbath. (Not really, I just had to add that; even though there most likely will be blood, though in lesser amounts.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not in any way own the characters used in this story. All of them belong to Amano Akira. (If I _did_ own any part of Katekyo Hitman Reborn, it would have turned into a yaoi anime ages ago. And Hibari, Spanner, Squalo and Fran would get much more screentime. And Alaude and Fon too.)

**This chapter...**

**Pairing:** 1896

**Summary: **"Maybe it wasn't love, but she'll keep her promises."

* * *

**Three: Have Patience**

His gaze strayed over the garden of his very own base, the place that became his new home as well as the headquarters of the Foundation... and already bore a lot of memories, both pleasant and not.

The rain was falling softly, chiming a soft pitter-patter on the slowly falling leaves; it was early autumn, and the momiji were turning an even more flaming red shade than usual, glowing with bright crimson among the soothing evergreen kuromatsu*, splashes of radiance against the calm.

He took a sip of his green tea, and snorted at the sight of the stem flowing upwards; he did not believe in such things – no, superstition was for herbivores and loud chattering old women, but he did like the symbolism connected to the Japanese culture. This symbol though, could not be less appropriate given the situation.

A silent knock came, but he did not bother to respond. It wasn't Kusakabe, for he told him not to disturb him unless it was something urgent – and besides, his knock was far more confident that this feeble sound that could hardly be classified as audible.

"Kumo no hito...?" asked a silent voice.

Hibari sighed silently, recognising the owner of the voice. For the last few years, the female insisted on coming over from time to time, justifying it by saying his future-self saved her life, and she wanted to repay her debt by being useful to him. While he could not argue her usefulness despite the fact that he despised illusionists, he was not exactly in favour of the idea having someone else besides Tetsu enter his private chambers freely.

He did not reply; yet the female must have heard him sigh or determined he was in the room otherwise, for she slid the shoji door to the side, entered the room and silently sat down at the distance that was still endurable for him.

"I told you not to call me that."

Her eyes shot up to him, apologizing once again – as every single time she called him 'the cloud person', for she could not get used to calling him by his name – but he refused to look at her. She mumbled a silent apology, and they remained silent, listening to the melody of the requiem rain playing its tune of drops dribbling down and bouncing off the leaves with soft pitter-patter, landing on the ground in slowly propagating puddles with a muffled splash.

Hibari did not and would not cry; so the sky cried for him instead.

"Why are you still here?" he demanded coldly. He preferred to be left alone at times like this; if he was alone, he could handle it, for being alone was what he knew best, it was how he spent his life – and it was the way he should have lived, never deluding himself and falling prey to herbivorous emotions.

"Because kumo no hito is lonely," came her silent yet determined answer. She did not wrap up her words and twist them in weird ways like other people did; she was like him, when she did speak up, her words were few and their meaning clear – maybe that was why he found her company endurable.

"I'm not lonely." The cold answer cut her off, and they fell silent again.

She was wrong – he was not lonely; or at least, he would never admit to have fallen so low to feel lonely. Only herbivores felt lonely, after all; only herbivores were that weak to actually crave for company, to crave for crowds...

After all, why would he feel lonely?

Because the stupid Bucking Horse got himself a wife? He couldn't care less.

He couldn't care less if that herbivore was getting married; he couldn't care less if the idiot left him for a woman; he couldn't care less if he chose his family over him.

"Why do you think I'm lonely?"

What did she know anyway? She knew nothing of them, nothing of their silent agreement, nothing of the heated nights, nothing of the promises under the stars – promises that _he_ could not; _would not_ keep.

She was silent for a few moments, and he was already smirking bitterly at his triumph, no matter how small it was – before she spoke up, carefully, reluctantly, but hitting spot-on with blatant truth: "Because I heard Dino-san left and won't be coming back."

It was his time to be rendered speechless now; for while he was certain she knew of their relationship, he did not quite expect her to be _that_ well informed, much less this much daringly direct in her reply.

"Hn. So you heard that."

He would not give her the pleasure of delving forth into this; the matter was nothing of her concern, and he didn't care if the herbivore left anyway. It wasn't like he meant anything to him, it wasn't like he had ever expected him to keep his promises...

She should realise soon enough she was not needed here, and leave – she was not that dense after all, the girl proved quite intelligent when it came to business and missions. If he ignores her, and keeps watching the rain, not even sparing her a glance, she'll leave.

Yet, she wouldn't.

"Why are you still here?" His voice held a shade of irritation now; he did not like having to repeat the same question twice.

The answer shot back almost instantly: "Because kumo no hito will be lonely if I leave."

He snorted in disagreement; '_What did the woman think she was? Why would I require her company?_'

He changed his approach this time though, and instead inquired further, knowing that merely retorting back would lead them nowhere, and would only cause the situation to repeat once more.

"And what is it to you if I am?" he asked demandingly, actually sparing a glance to gaze at her from the corners of his eyes while keeping his head turned straight ahead.

"I don't want kumo no hito to be lonely," she answered simply and plainly, as if that answered everything.

Hibari, on the other side, did not know what to do with her answer.

Why would she care if he's lonely or not? It was nothing that should concern her, nothing that she should worry about. He had been alone for the vast majority of his life, and intended to be so for as long as it lasted; if he had decided to bear the stupid Bronco's company for a while, it was a mere whim of his, nothing else, and he hadn't ever thought that he might keep his promise and stayed with him forever...

_He didn't care if the idiot wouldn't keep his promise, he really didn't!_

Yet... what was this wetness he could feel in his eyes, this uncomfortable squirming in his stomach as he recalled the image of the untamed blond mane...

A single tear trickled slowly down his cheek, accompanying the rain, completing the melody into a bittersweet symphony.

Whom was he lying to? He _did_ care, of course he did; after all, promises were made to be kept, and not to be broken. He actually grew to think that maybe, just _maybe_, emotions weren't just a herbivorous affliction that clouded their mind and hazed their judgement – and he was starting to believe him when he whispered the words in Italian in the night – _Ti amo, Kyouya..._

But after all, everything was just make-believe, wasn't it? The morning light shone on the ragged remains of his shattered dreams on the sea reefs of realisation, and no matter what he did he could not blind the light out.

_The stupid Bronco and his stupid promises he knew well he could not keep...!_

Suddenly, he felt a pair of arms coil around him. He did not know when she had approached him, having been too immersed in his misery to notice, and now the woman was leaning against his back with her head resting on his shoulder, her arms holding him loosely – not tightly to make him feel constrained, but rather comforting, soothing out his pain.

He felt something wet fall on his shoulder, and turned his head a bit to see a single tear flowing down her undamaged eye – a sight mirroring his own face. While he refused to cry, she would shed tears for him as well, sharing his unspoken pain.

She smiled bitterly at him, and said: "You are not alone."

He looked straight at her, and saw her soul barred in the indigo iris of her single eye. He saw her pains, he hopes and dreams; he saw compassion but not pity, care but not obsession, and devotion but not entrapment. Her words, not matter how simple and plain, made him want to believe, made him want to trust and _not be alone_...

He leaned against her and buried his face into her clothes, hiding the cleansing tears that he refused to let go until now.

He was not alone.

Maybe it wasn't love, but she was here.

Maybe it wasn't love, but she'll stay.

Maybe it wasn't love, but she'll keep her promises.

His arms coiled around her waist and brought them closer. As he held her, he looked over her shoulder and noticed his abandoned cup of tea on the floor, untouched apart from a single sip he took, the surface stirred by the light breeze that flowed over, causing the stem flow around merrily.

...

Maybe there really was something about stems flowing upright in tea.

* Momiji & kuromatsu: trees specific to Japanese gardens, Japanese Maple (_Acer palmatum_) and Japanase black pine (_Pinus thunbergii)_.


End file.
